An excellent offering from Math with some great clues. I particularly liked 12 across and the 4/13 combination was very amusing. The NINA, which appears down either side, helped me with a couple of clues that I needed to finish the puzzle. Not sure if it’s just a topical transport-related message or a reference to this group. Given there were a few other groups mentioned, that seems a possibility.

Across

1

Sabbatical: Abba + it< in S Cal.

7

Left: Let “drinking” f.

9

Offset: DD. Offset is a botanical name for a type of shoot and the other bit is “off set”.

10

Chutzpah: Putz* in cha + h.

11

Rest: Hidden in “dire straits”.

12

Predecease: Pr[ic]e dec[r]ease.

13

Ramparts: DD/CD. Def=”encircling mounds”, butter=ram, parts=balls.

16

Tie rod: Editor*. The cryptically phrased definition made this more difficult than it first appeared.

17

Youths: Out in shy<.

19

Absentee: (Be seen at)*. Resort as an anagram indicator might be a bit of a stretch.

21

Franz Liszt: (ZZ T[op] snarl if)*.

23

Abel: &lit. A=first + be + l[iquated].

25

Opium den: U[ser] m[ay] in (dope in)*.

26

Acacia: AC(current) + ac (account) + I [p]a[y].

27

Rand: I think this is R and R shortened. Def=ready (money) in South Africa.

28

Pulled away: (A wad)< in pulley.

Down

2

Alfie: If< in ale.

3

Bus stop: (Pots sub)<.

4

Tot up: To tup, tup being another word for a male sheep.

5

Cachets: C + [s]achets.

6

Laureates: A + R in (et al use)*. Not a reference to the singer Duffy but to the current poet laureate and her predecessor, Andrew Motion.

7

Lazy Eye: CD.

8

Flagstone: This was the only one I didn’t really follow – “Possibly set colour of colours”. Looks as if it might be something like “flags tone”, but it doesn’t quite add up.

14

Apocrypha: Pop about cry in A-ha. The apocrypha were books that never made it to the Bible, hence “bible books for some”.

15

Rustled up: D (denarius) in (pure lust)*.

18

Tongued: (got nude)*. Another great clue, although fairly easy to solve.

19

Arsenal: Arse + NA + l.

20

Niagara: Again< + odd letters of rear.

22

Trace: Charade of T + TT (=race). Def=touch.

24

Erica: Hidden in “Ledger I can’t”. Def=heath, which can refer to an Erica plant as well as an area of moorland.

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11 Responses to “Independent 7256 by Math”

Thanks Neal,
19ac. I thought resort (as in “sort again”) was an excellent anagram indicator.
I don’t know the reason for the Nina either, is it that it’s been ages since a Math puzzle?
Didn’t like the inclusion of 19d.
(eimi, have the setters got together with some sort of bet?).

Thanks, Neal, as you say a good offering. Finished it, but with mistakes (had PRERELEASE at 12ac and guessed TEASE for 22dn).

I don’t understand the wordplay for FLAGSTONES in 8dn either. And why can I never spot ninas? (Discuss.)

Ian, I don’t have a problem with 19d. However, if the seven-letter solution had been CHELSEA, then I may have had to consider a formal complaint to eimi on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment …

Some excellent clues here in what I found quite a hard puzzle. I saw the Nina when I’d about 8 or 9 letters, my guess at to what it meant was the same as in comment 1 above. TIE ROD was my last and was very good, was looking for ‘ed’, also esp liked YOUTHS and LAUREATES.

It has been a while since we saw Math (July I think), and there were fewer puzzles in 2009 than 2008, so I’m guessing it’s a message to solvers (and possibly Eimi!). Either way, well worth the wait. Any puzzle that has music-related clues always gets my nod of approval. I found it tough though.

I’ve no issue with it, but is missing punctuation (i.e. the comma between Motion and Duffy in the LAUREATES clue) generally acceptable?